Windows Support vs Ubuntu Support

[Tamalin]

Which would you consider better:
The Ubuntu support forums,
or(including the knowledge
The Windows support knowledge base.

Give at least one reason why. (And maybe one funny incident where the Windows support hit some issues)
Also tell how you feel while experiencing the different support services.

[jespdj]

The great thing about Ubuntu is that it's open source, so that if there's a problem (and you are computer-savvy) you can do much more yourself to find out where the problem is exactly. With a closed source system like Windows, you almost can't do anything if a strange error occurs.

I've had a few times that Windows comes up with an error code, and the article in the Microsoft knowledge base gives a few things to try, but if they don't work then you're stuck.

With an open source system you can at least find out who is maintaining the package that the error occurs in, and you have a much better chance that the developers will pay attention to the problem.

[Mr. Picklesworth]

Your tags are missing Launchpad Answers (http://answers.launchpad.net/), which provides an awesome support solution that really highlights some great features of being free software.

Microsoft's Knowledge Base thing is a joke. I have always found it full of stubs, "we admit there is an issue... *silence*" articles, inconcievably ginormous lists of directions, thick writing, excessive hyperlinking and broken links. Its page layout and style changes in ways I do not understand. The search results are disorganized, distorted and often irrelevent to my query. They seem to be spanned across multiple systems.
It angers me every time I must use the thing, which is thankfully not often.

[Johnsie]

I dont think that's a fair comparison. Most windows programs are supported on individual sites, while most software on Ubuntu is supported on here and on launchpad. Ubuntu application support is certainly more centralised than Windows application support and that an be a good thing sometimes.

[jimi_hendrix]

never got support on windows...ubuntu forum support owns

[Bölvaður]

Which would you consider better:
The Ubuntu support forums,
or(including the knowledge
The Windows support knowledge base.


what a great question to ask on ubuntuforums.org...

I might have used that windows support knowledge base but I cannot recall it. I am getting too old to remember the older days :(

But I can assure you that fixing some ones problem is simpler over phone as you have the terminal. No saying "look for the xys button"

[wrtpeeps]

Which would you consider better:
The Ubuntu support forums,
or(including the knowledge
The Windows support knowledge base.

Give at least one reason why. (And maybe one funny incident where the Windows support hit some issues)
Also tell how you feel while experiencing the different support services.

Quite a good disguise for what obviously will drop into the usual bashing thread.

[Grant A.]

You can always get support from the Microsoft help hotline. It's free to my knowledge.

[cariboo]

I was just looking at the Microsoft Knowledge Base to see why my laptop wouldn't go into standby with a usb mouse plugged in running Windows XP Pro.

Their answer was to unplug the usb device.

This is the first time I installed XP on the laptop since I got it about a year ago, and had never run into this problem before.

[psycosmyth]

I saw a similar question on a Windows forum a few years ago, it pointed to the overwhelming support of the community mixed with the actual developers of the OS. Windows users wanted the same but..........nope. Yes Ubuntu is a topic on windows forums, usually the "how to repair NTLDR" or more frequently "good-bye", like mine!

[Mason Whitaker]

I wouldn't know, when I was still a Windows devotee I always got my help from Windows forums XD;;

But, from what I know about Windows Support, its more or less the same as Dells -_-

[Tamalin]

The problem with windows support, is you never would know exactly what was going on. When Windows has a problem, it tries as hard as it can to hide it, popping up with a little screen saying: "Searching for a solution". Usually this turns up not working. And you may never know what is really causing the problem if nothing comes up, and so... How to you look for a solution in the knowledge base?

And what if you had a problem like, for example, your internet connection wasn't working. Windows hides the fact that the settings are misconfigured, and just tells you it is checking for a solution...
You would be able to search up: "How to configure my router" on Google, but Microsoft might hide this error behind a blue screen and a dialog box telling you it is fixing the problem. On Ubuntu, I can see as much information as I need to see to fix the problem, and I can post it all on the forums and get a really good answer.

[linuxguymarshall]

With ubuntu I get people who know what im doing. With Windows I get an outdated, step by step troubleshooting process which 7/10 times will lead you to the wrong thing.